๓คzє ๏Ŧ ๔คгкภєรร : нєαя мє иσω
by Graymist the Great
Summary: Dαякєѕт, dєєρєѕт, ѕєcяєтѕ вяιηg. ƒяσм тнє єαятн, уσυ ѕнαℓℓ яєdєєм. ƒяσм ηєω dαωη, ηєω ℓιƒє вє ωση. ησω тσ тнє ℓαηd σƒ ησ ѕυη. gσσd ℓυcк тσ уσυ; ℓєт тнє gαмє вє ωση. Furze, Moon, Set, the three were placed here do to their unique abilities, but in a maze where it is every cat for themselves, none may make it out alive.
1. The Game

Maze of Darkness; Hear Me Now

Chapter One: The Game

This is a life non other would really live. Try learning to navigate a hundred tunnels for nearly no reason. StarClan knows this was a mouse-brained idea, but we still do it. They send me into this labyrinth for a reason, of which I may never return. I must find my way to the last piece with only enemies around me. It is even worse than you would think. They don't put me here to find prey, or uncover hidden enemies. Let me tell you this. Everything is a game.

I drop to the hard-packed earth of the tunnel floor. I know where I am. Everything in my brain falls into an instant map of where I am going. It has always been this way. A calculating mind like this is why apprentices like me are sent into the tunnels. We are here to complete this unnecessary game of darkness and mind. Some never see the light of the sun again. Some cats never come out of the caves and tunnels, this endless night of no stars.

Shivers rack my small body. One moon ago I became an apprentice, one moon ago I ruined my life by letting them know my intelligence. For my kit days, I could watch from the nursery, that little hole under the ferns, and see a few select apprentices dive in here for whatever they would do. How I miss the innocence of being a kit. Back then, even while in fear, we could be safe at our mother's side. I miss mother most of all here, he kind words and rhythmic tongue strokes calming me. But that will no longer happen as long as I am a chosen one.

"Furzepaw?" I hear a voice softly mew, almost like the cooing of a dove. My ear prick, eyes focus, and mouth open to take in every detail of the other cat, but a guess would even work fine. It is one of the other chosen apprentices, a newer one. Though I am bad a remembering names of most of the Clan, her's sticks out.

"I'm here," I grunt, lifting myself to my paws. There is just enough room around me to sit up, tail tucked at my paws. "What is it, Moonpaw?" I ask, words sliding off my tongue. She is like a sister to me after all those moons playing secretly behind the nursery. Even though it isn't frowned upon, the queens worry that we are more likely to be sent to our doom down her if we are found playing. Simple things can lead to under destruction.

Moonpaw, or Moon as I like to call her, is lithe and gray, with bright yellow eyes. Down here, however, none of that matters. Until we find what we are looking for, the last piece to the game, we will all remain shadows, dark with glowing eyes if we find a dash of light. Down here, we sometimes find glowing plants, like mosses or mushrooms, that glow with a faint light. Beyond these, there is no such thing. Some say you can be driven mad down here after only so long.

Moon brushed me lightly with her tail. "Where do you think we are?"

I close my eyes, the map I formed of the tunnels so far appearing in my mind. "We can't be too far from the exit, back at camp. But if we return without that final piece, they exile us. The best way would be to go deeper." I gesture to the emptiness that seems to fill the space behind me with my tail. I see a small, shifting silhouette as Moon dips her head.

I turn around, squeezing through the gap in the rocks and soil. Moon grabs my tail softly in her jaws so she doesn't get lost. This has been our strategy for while now, so that we can stay together, in hopes of both our us getting out alive. This entire time we have been here, even as I have lost track of the days, I haven't seen any other cats, besides Moonpaw that is. When we went in, our leader, Hailstar, send us each a sunrise apart so that the game would be challenging. I'm not sure why we can't go together, but this isn't made to be fair.

I'm lucky to have Moon at all. There were three apprentices, each after a month of training, that went into the maze. Before, I rained in a large group alongside six others. Then Moon, myself, and Tigerpaw were sent in. Tigerpaw is strong, he will have made it pretty far by now. He might have even found some of the older members to the labyrinth.

See, every four moons, Our leader Hailstar and his deputy take all the apprentices that show potential in their ability to think, and drop them down the hole into the tunnels. I watched this happen twice as a kit, each time a few scared apprentices falling down while Hailstar and a few others chanted.

_"Darkest, deepest, secrets bring. From the earth, you shall redeem. From new dawn, new life be one. Now to the land of no sun. Good luck to you; let the game be won."_

It is an incredibly simple rhyme, even I can figure that out. But as the elders' tales go, there is often more to a prophecy than the words spoken. Every time a new apprentice enters the game it is spoken, and soon everyone has it memorized by heart.

I feel Moon shiver violently behind me, and wince and she grasps me tail harder. "We should stop here," I mew to her. She releases her grip and sits up. Her fur, not only sodden from the dripping water and whatever she had done last time she disappeared, but spiked up. I lean over, and smooth down the ragged fur on her shoulder.

"Sorry," she says, collecting herself up. Both of us know I didn't stop from either of us being tired. Every move we make can throw us off course of the escape. We need to stop to keep our strength up without getting weary, while locating where we are and which way to turn. I also stop because I know how nervous Moon can get.

Above this prison of endless night, the Clan was not exactly a great life. Even while mother loved me, most of the other cats were dark-hearted and harsh. Mentors commonly mistreated apprentices, that is, if the apprentices weren't chosen for the same fate as mine.

The way kits are chosen is unknown to many of us, but I have an idea about how it is done. For example, my way of thinking and planning stuck out, even as a kit. Tigerpaw, the other one who came in a day before me, was sharp and agile, with a different sense of how to approach battles and hunting. I have no idea how Moon was chosen. She was always a little frail, and kind-hearted. A gentle soul like her shouldn't be in these games.

Moon lays on her side, licking a sore pad of a paw. I close my eyes, trying to enhance my other senses. We will need prey soon. I cannot tell time here, but it has been around an entire day since I have eaten. I don't know about Moon, since we have lost and found each other a few times from the days we began, but prey will do her good.

"I am going to find some prey," I grunt, hearing the soft echo of bat wings and mouse paws from a connecting tunnel. This could be my last chance to hunt for awhile, and I better take it. Moon stays where she is, her gaze on my pelt. I know how much she relies on me, Moon herself only having a mere half moon of training before the game begun.

"Call to me if you are lost," she meows, trying to sound smooth, but I can smell her strong fear scent through her words.

I slink into the wider tunnel, staying close to the wall. Stories have been told where cats have gone crazy from being here too long, and have attacked young apprentices. When I was only a moon old, I hear talk from outside from a warrior that had returned. Stuck in the nursery, I couldn't tell who was speaking, but I knew they were important. The calm, despite being scared, voice had sketched a story in his mind as the cat's companion had been attacked by one of these warriors. It was a violent death, apparently, but time has worn down my memory so I can only remember the awe that filled me. It was a tale unlike any I had heard before, or since, that day. NO other cats have escaped the games since then.

Kits can be stupid like that, seeing things as 'cool' and 'awesome'. If I knew how terrible this place was as a kit, I would have hid my thoughts. I would have never ended up here. But now I am lost, hidden away in this maze of darkness.

The small, scratching of claws on stone alerts me of close prey. After a few days down here, I have learned the easiest ways to hunt, even if they aren't the best. First I have to narrow down onto the unknowing target, and either stalk it than pounce, or corner it. Of course, only a mouse-brain would corner a rat or even the occasional bat in these caves. One infected bit would kill you easily, without any herbs here to heal.

I creep cautiously forward until the taste of the rodent flesh is almost dancing across my maw. I can sense it is near, a mouse, its scrawny sides heaving as it squeaks out in astonishment. Even stalking the best I can, echos of my footsteps still vibrate painfully loud in the silence. At last, releasing the breath I had tried to hold, I leap forward with all the strength I can in this tunnel. This is my first mistake.

The thin tunnel crashes against my head, white lights swirling across my vision and an explosion of pain swelled across my head. The sparks that had appeared soon grew, flames of blinding white searing across my eyes and burning into my mind. I see only the image of a clear, blue stone, light piercing through my eyelids. Then everything falls through, into the darkness of unconsciousness. Farther into the maze.

**Sorry for being short, but I had a new idea and NEEDED to get it written. Things here will get more exciting, it promise! Now quick, review! I will update soon. Thank you to everyone who is reading this :D Graymist will return soon!**


	2. Beasts

Maze of Darkness: **Hear Me Now**

**Chapter 2: Beasts**

I was never mean to come here. I know that, at least. Bits of the truth still confuse me, scattered within my veins. I don't even know how I got down here. After all, it was a far drop. At least ten tail lengths of falling through the darkness that failed to hold me up. Now I am crippled, limping my way to safety, maybe a few other apprentices. Every action here is a choice between whether I want to live, or whether I am willing to die. I'm unsure of which I would rather do now.

I can remember nothing, only feel the reality caving in, as rough and sturdy as these stones and tunnels around me. But one part is still soft. My mind has collapsed, only the vague wisps of memory of my past life float there. All the cares and troubles melted away, so much I can barely remember to pains of past stress. Who am I? Why did they bring me here? It is impossible to tell.

THe last thing my mind will allow me to recall is a tom, bulky and gray, his icy eyes tearing into my mind as he chanted words, that swirled and twisted in my mind like a poisonous serpent, the poison seeping in. I couldn't even tell what they were saying, stuck in the terror I have built within every bone in my body. The fear that racked me had been let loose. Then there was open air, rushing through my fur. For one solid moment, I was free. But something was wrong.

When I landed down here, in this death trap, the bone in one of my hind legs split. For the first few days I was down here, I nearly gave up. Once a great apprentice, battling with amazing skill at seven moons old, I would have made it out of here quickly. I would be first to find the exit and escape this maze. Now I am crippled, useless, a worthy meal of any cat who has a better chance in this game. StarClan, just take me out of this. I'm sure there is room for me in the skies of Silverpelt.

I used to be called Tigerpaw. Now, I call myself Set, as in the sunset. I am the bringer of darkness, the end of the day. Here I will stay, always catching up to you and never looking back.

* * *

_Furzepaw is taking awfully long, _I think to myself, a bit worried. I curl my tail, up until it grazes my nose, and then set in on the ground again. I should have gone with him. What could be going on? But I will not, _cannot, _move from my position. Doing so could result in the two of us being torn apart again.

Yes, again. This happened last time he went hunting with me. Furzepaw, being overprotective as usually, went to find a small piece of prey. He began to be in that tunnel longer than I felt comfortable, so I went after him. One wrong turn, and I was off in the wrong direction. Moments later, I was out to the point of never finding him. Until just a little bit ago, that is.

I look around, admiring this place. No one knows who built it, or how long these tunnels have stood. Whoever, or whatever created this maze must have had a bloodthirsty intent. Why else would they be sending mere apprentices with no strength and hardly any training down here? Furzepaw says it is all a game, but I know there must be _some _reason to it.

My mind fogs again, another stupid fantasy clogging it. Why does it do this? A stupid daydream here could get me killed, yet my other self seems focused on imagining what sort of thing my littermates are doing outside, back in the sunlight.

By now, since we were selected, Owlpaw and Patchpaw might have been given their permanent, one-on-one mentors. See, to keep the chosen ones from getting attached to a mentor before they leave, all the apprentices train in a group until the ritual of darkness or whatever they call it is over. The only exception is if a kit is made an apprentice within a moon after the ritual. Those lucky fools are safe just because of when they are born.

Suddenly, from where Furzepaw disappeared comes a blood-curling scream. I try the back away, but it doesn't help. The shrieks grows louder and louder, piercing the stuffy air. WHat could be going on? Fear rushes through my veins, not dulled with the shock like when I was thrown down here. No, this is pure fear, the kind that could drive me insane if not controlled.

But I don't try to take it slowly or breath deeply. Instead, I run. I duck in my head and sprint, paws scraping the walls and ground as I propel myself forward the best I can. Fear now is the only thing moving me, putting the thoughts into my head. It is such a simple word, but a deadly poison. Pain numbs my leg, biting into it. The soft, subtle feeling travels like venom through my blood until I have lost feeling completely, instantly throwing me into the air. I hit the ground with a soft thud against the soil. What was that?

I frantically shake my head, trying to see what happened. Whatever hit me was either me being clumsy, or something placed to mess up my attempt to run. My gaze runs over the ground, not comprehending anything for a moment, until it finally sees my leg.

It isn't as bad as it could be, I am lucky at that, but it still terrible. Right above my foot the skin is peeled back, my body screaming in pain as the vulnerable insides are exposed to the air. Drops over heavy, red blood spatter of the ground. Bits of dirt and dust have already begun to embed themselves into the stinging flesh. I try to move it, a few bursts of white appearing on the edge of my vision. This is hopeless.

"Furzepaw!" I shout into the darkness. My voice echos off the walls before collapsing in the distant tunnel curves. Nothing replies, the emptiness disturbing. What could have happened to him?

I struggle to reach down and lick the wound, the fear and pain already sending me into furies of shivering. I wince gently, setting my foot back on the ground and tucking it under my body. There is no way I can continue now, so I settle on closing my eyes, but no sleeping.

Memories flood in from my kit-hood, ones I had been pushing away from too long. All those times with Furzepaw, Owlpaw, and all the others. They were once my friends, trusted with all my silly secrets I had back then. All our cares then were simple, now I am faces with something much more than I have ever hoped or wanted to experience. There is no one I can trust with these secrets now.

Even the reason I am down here is my own dark secret. Yes, I know everyone questions it. No one knows the secret side I have no one but my own mother. My mother is the one who betrayed me, telling Hailstar about me to 'save the Clan'. I am not a monster. This place can't keep any of us here forever.

The screams, filled with such pain that my blood rushes cold, begin again. "Furzepaw!" I shriek until my throat is parched. From there it only gets worse. Is he being murdered?

Keeping my injured leg tucked at my side, I struggle to stand on the other three. Pain shoots up my spine, but I ignore it the best I can. I need to move and find him before it is too late. I take one small step with a front paw, then a tiny hop. Soon I have built a steady rhythm: _step, hop, step, hop, step, hop. _

Despite moving, my leg feels worse than ever. To save my strength of holding it up, I let it hover right against the ground. Flecks of rock pelt up every hop, stinging worse than ever, but I press on. My other three legs are more sore from the effort every step forward, burning lights passing over my vision once again. There is no time for rest now, Furzepaw _needs_ me.

The screams and cries of my companion have soon grown louder, until the point until the noise is overwhelming, scratching the air with sharp claws that plunge into my ears. Whatever has happened can't be good. I turn another curve in the tunnel, the pungent scent of fear washing in a strong wave over me. For a moment, I see nothing. I cannot use my other senses for a moment, ears clogged with the screams and and nose filled with the tangy stench of fear.

Eyes dilating, I see him. Furzepaw is there, a wailing, crumpled heap. The soft, glowing moss around him shows me his blood-stained pelt and ragged fur, his face held in his paws, turned away from me.

"Furzepaw!" I shout, trying to be heard over the wailing. "Furzepaw calm down! I am here now!"

As a great relief, his voice softens into painful groans and gasps and he tries to calm down. But he still doesn't face me.

"Furzepaw, it is okay. What happened?"

He doesn't need to explain. Instead, he just lifts his head to reveal the skin and fur on the top of his head peeled away, heavy bruises above his eyes. But the worst thing is when I gaze into one of his eyes, there is a fragment of something lodged there, and a frothy mist unleashing itself from within.

**I made myself a goal to get this chapter done before school. So yeah, it is a bit bloody, but the entire book is a bit dark. Please review to tell me what you think!**


	3. Fog and Light

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 3: Fog and Light

I feel my eye lids flicker open, almost against my will. My own thoughts are no longer in control, the other side of my mind pulling my jaw apart into another scream. I can barely hear it. Everything is muffled, blurred into a faint background drop of sound. Everything is numb, my ears that are pulled so tightly against my head feeling softer. A slow, swirl of fog grows across my field of vision. What is happening?

Blurs of gray flutter on the edge of my eye. Whether it is an illusion, or a real creature, I cannot tell. I am cut off from moving my own body. The darts of gray move forward, until something brushes my face. My maw closes, ears rising at the silence. Who is this? What is happening?

My muscles slowly uncoil, releasing their pain and chasing away some of the odd, numb feeling. But there is still that ache in my head, piercing through every nerve in my body, down to my tail. Something fluffy brushed down the fur on my flank, grazing across a burning scar.

"Furzepaw, what happened?" the voice whispers, sounding shocked. I shake my head, croaking out a reply.

"Who, who are you?" I ask, wincing. I close my misty eye to save it the stress of trying to see. Everywhere I look frustrated me, not being able to see the entire picture. It is pointless. There is no light here anyway, save for a few glowing plants back the way this she-cat came.

The she-cat lets out a whimper for a moment, or at least that is what it sounds like. I hiss as she nears me, her presence intruding. Is she here to kill me? But my sharpened defenses still fail, by legs not strong enough to hold up my weight yet. Whatever happened had caused the feeling in my bones to vanish. Or maybe I have always been crippled. As hard as I think, there is no evidence to suggest any of my background. Everything begins here.

Trying to squirm backwards, I note carefully that this cat has a limp. If I could walk I could get away from her in seconds. But as I can't move, I am doomed. Every sense in my body tells me to brace myself for the impact. That is, the impact that never comes.

Instead, the advancing she-cat lowers herself to the ground right in front of my. Her two eyes, glowing orbs of reflected light, hang in the air above me. My one working I strains to stare right into her two perfect ones. For a moment, time is still, the webs of thoughts that have tangled in my mind dissolving into a clear chill breeze. I must be a monster to her, one squinted, broken eye and whatever is making up the rest of me.

The frozen veil of time shatters as she buries her fluffy head into my fur. "No!" she gasps, cries muffled by my pelt. "Furzepaw, come on! Please tell me you are faking it!" What is going on? Am _I _Furzepaw? I don't know anything about that. I sit still, front paws under my chest. She nuzzles into my fur, oddly warm. This feels a bit too much, but nice.

"Who are you?" I ask again. She seemed to ignore my question the first time.

She pulls herself out of my pelt and furiously begins grooming between my ears, and down my face along my nose. It stings faintly, a little jolt of pain in my sore, unused muscles. "Don't you remember anything?" She deeply, looking down. "I am Moonpaw. You always called me Moon, my mother said it was cute. We always played by each other as kits, and now we are here, the chosen ones to be sent into the maze."

I close both my eyes, trying to take it in. "Moon, what is this maze?"

Once again, Moon sighs, gathering her words. I'm not sure how to help, there is nothing I can really do. "I-I just can't."

"You can't do what?"

Moon just turns away, burying her head in her paws. I tilt my head slightly, confused, but she doesn't explain anything. We sit in the chilling, ominous silence for awhile. The pieces I try to fit together in my head just don't seem to work. What are we doing here? apparently we were chosen, but to do what?

This maze seems important too. No wonder everything is emerged into this choking, grimy darkness. "So," I speak up. Moon turns her head a little, her glowing eyes reappearing. "We played together? What was it like outside of here?"

Moon seems to choke out the next few words, squirming next to me. "Out there is the sunlight, warm and abundant. Can you remember that?"

I search back in my mind, every foggy remain so out of place. But I can picture it, warms against my pelt, light sprawling over our tunnel. The feeling is peaceful, consuming my mind. Calm silence sweep over myself and Moon as she collects her thoughts. I shift a little, brushing her pelt with my own.

"Yes, I think I can picture the sunlight."

"But can you _remember?" _

"No."

"Then let me remind you."

I prick up my ears. Now I can learn about everything, whoever i was before i awoke in this cavern. The thought chills me as well. What if I was a monster, now born into a new life through whatever swept away my memory? Do I want to know my past mistakes? I open my mouth to tell this Moon to stop, but the words freeze in my throat. She has already begun, her sweet voice spinning a story from this raw, dusty air.

A world is built from nothing as she relays this story, one of hardship and difficulty. Once we lived in this thing called a Clan, a group of cats joined together. A Clan is supposed to be like a family, but the way she explains it, it sounded like a prison.

"Our leader, Hailstar, was as bloodthirsty as they come," she explains. "There are rumors he inherited it from his father, but no one seems to remember him. It is as if they were all brain-washed in the time between Hailstar becoming leader and us being born. He has fooled them, making them forget. Or maybe, he is just trying to keep them quite to make us think that this is all we will ever know. Hailstar was the one who started using this maze, throwing helpless apprentices in to find something. You used to explain it to me so well, how this game works."

Moon trails off, allowing me to ponder these words. I knew this game? How long have we been here? I must have been succesful in it, because we seem to be far, at least twenty tail-lengths under the surface.

In the silence Moon brought as soon as she stopped talking, a song begins to weave it's way through the clammy space. Words, soft and warm float up to my ears. "What-what is that?"

A face a terror overcomes Moon. "No, no it can't be!"

"What? This sounds lovely."

She turns to me. "Listen to the words. They are a sweet poison, the one injected into our minds when they put us here. Sweet? They are the doom hanging over our heads!"

I turn an ear to pick up the sound, an eerie voice humming it. Notes swirl up and down, a harmony of other voices join in. All together, it sounds welcoming and friendly. Why should I stay here with Moon, when there are others that could help me more?

_"Darkest, deepest, secrets bring. From the earth, you shall redeem. From new dawn, new life be one. Now to the land of no sun. Good luck to you; let the game be won."_

Moon hisses. "We need to get out! Now!" But as she tries to stand, if notice her leg. Patches are matted down, dark with a sticky substance. My nose tells me it is blood.

"We can't go. What happened to your leg? You can't travel like that!"

"This is nothing!" she spits, snapping her jaws near my ears. "If only you could see yourself! Your entire head is ripped apart! Furzepaw, I just want this to be a dream! Wake me up and tell me everything will be okay. That is what I need."

She lets out a small whimper, curling up on the floor. My head? Is that why I can't remember? No wonder it has been hurting at every move! Still, I struggle to my feet, trying my best to ignore the throbbing pain. "Moon, I am going to those voices. I don't know if any of us will make it out alive, but I will do whatever I can. Both of us need help. Maybe these cats can help us! It is your choice though, if you want to stay or come. THank you, but I need to move on."

I slowly move forward, limping heavily on one side. At least I can move, while Moon wallows in her own pity. I wish I knew how to help her, but it feels like I just met her. Maybe our paths can cross again.

The chanting voices merge together, even louder than before. All I focus on is every paw step forward, every deep breath that keeps me moving. Survival is a game, and I can only hope to make it out alive.

**Please REVIEW! Thanks to everyone who have favorited, followed, and reviewed so far! Sorry the chapter is a little short, but I am trying to get in the habit of avoiding too many time breaks, as readers of my other stories have seem my over-use of. Thanks for reading, and please, predict or ask any questions you have in your review! I would be happy to PM you about them. Until next chapter, Graymist out. Peace!**


	4. Valos

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 4: Valos

I feel the spirit, the very essence of those voices bring me closer. They pull my own paws, the journey effortless. The twisting tunnels seem to evaporate, pulling me through the maze without myself having any say. There is no point in struggling, these enchanting voices that string together this woven song are too strong. Moon's voice disappears farther and farther from my ears, and my thoughts. There is no turning back now.

Feeling the tunnel walls, I navigate myself. Already a map of this place and everywhere I have been has slowly sketched itself into my head. Every time I reflect on it, there is this odd feeling that blankets my mind and flows between the empty spaces. The pit of vanished thoughts spits out something that is vaguely familiar. It is hard to explain, a light feeling spreading through my heart and my mind turning soft. It is comforting, but annoying. Now every time I look at the map, I am clumsy, while my mind needs to be sharp.

Soon the song has scattered. Panic rises as it stops, pulling my paws forward. I am careful to duck my head in, but the pain is slowly pulling over my scalp. Paws pelting across the stone, I struggle to squeeze around, the tunnel getting tighter. Finally, the clutch unleashes, and I stumble into a cavern.

Luminescent mosses glow softly overhead, pulsing vibrant blue lights. Arched walls slope to my sides, the ceiling disappearing in the shadowed darkness. I sit, amazed, while catching my breath. After what must have been sunrises, my eyes can adjust to such a magnificent brightness again. A breath surges out my lungs, heavy. Something doesn't seem right. Is this _too _amazing? The voices seem to have vanished altogether now, the nothingness of it larger than the lightest note had ever been.

I step forward lightly, careful on my paws, but something stops me. There are whispers in this cavern, slithering down the walls and dripping like water around me. Altogether, it is a bit soothing. I close my eyes, losing myself in the sound. Until the owners of those voices reappear, I may as well wait here.

The sound of water speeds up, swelling and rushing around me. My muscles tense a little, though not a drop of water reaches my pelt. Surrounding me, the roar grows. It sounds familiar, but I cannot tell from what. Have I experienced this before? I look as deep into my memory as I can, but nothing is clear. A haze has taken over my mind, and not a scrap of remembrance is available through this veil of mist and fear.

I try to relax, letting the tenseness in my body uncoil. Lifting my head slightly, is breath in the sweet scent. Then a single drop looses itself from its hiding place, tumbling neatly through the air. There is a small _plop_ as it hits my nose. I shake my head frantically, opening my eyes to see nothing by the trail of murky water rushing from the cavern's edges and towards my paws.

Frantically glancing around, it appears that the entrance that I came through is blocked off, a wall of falling water building itself thicker by the minute. I shuffle my paws, bracing myself for what I know is coming.

Warm droplets of water swarm over my paws, crawling slowly upward. I focus on nothing, standing completely vulnerable in this moment. My whiskers twitch as they are sprinkled with the tickling droplets. I breath in deeply, embracing the moment. If anything wants to kill me now, whether it be the forces or nature or a blood thirsty member of this game, let them take me in this moment of peace.

Suddenly, something jerks me to the side. Claws, something sharp against my neck. Everything is a blurry rush before my eyes, a dizzying flurry of white and red, silhouetted in the bioluminescent plants. I swerve my head around, but the pain buckles my legs beneath me. Once again, those lights dart across my vision, leaving their odd blue tracks behind, but I shake them away.

The grasp in my neck clenches tighter, but it doesn't hurt. Like being a kit again, the ground falls out from beneath me as I am lifted. Purtred breath runs down my back, reaching my maw. The fur front my neck to the tip of my tail spikes up, but it is pointless. Whatever is carrying me tries to be ginger with his or her grip, but I as yanked furiously back and forth down the cavern. I seal my eyes shut, to avoid watching the world as it bounces up and down.

Stumbling, my guide slows, then the breath freezes in my lungs as we plunge through the wall of water. For a moment, I am drowned alive, the frozen water and air in my body numbing my senses. The world has disappeared, only the cold, silent darkness for more than the solid moment I was hoping for.

Then, the lights come back, eyes forcing themselves open. Panting sounds echo from all around, almost like the drowning torrent of water. My one eye still is fogged up, but the other sees as clearly as ever. I cast my gaze around the cave where we have stopped. A thin trickle of water gurgles over my paws, droplets from my wet pelt joining the stream.

In the faint light, I can make out four other shapes, all cats. Two of the are dappled shadows, patched together in many shades of gray. One is glancing straight at me, eyes perfect round orbs of green. The other is turned away, tense and ready to continue. Craning my neck around, I see the cat who was carrying me now, up close. It is a tom, I can tell b the scent, with gray-tinged fur by what I can see, and dull orange eyes. But the last cat is the one that really catches my attention.

Her fur is pure white, as if untouched by the darkness and dirt of this place. She is larger than I, certainly past her apprentice years, with many muscles showing from under her sleek pelt. With her head raised high enough to catch a gleam of light in her eyes, I can see not only the bright golden color, but years of wisdom. I sit in awe of this amazing she-cat, until she looks directly at me, her gaze piercing though my soul and freezing every loose end.

The questions where am I? and who are you? melt in my head, coming out in a mess of thoughts that never finished. "Who am I? I mean, what are you?"

I see her exhale, shoulders relaxing and she moves towards me in a few elegant strides. "Memory loss, I knew it. If they put you in here, you would have had a sharper mind than to go in there. Lucky for you we were on patrol." Her body paces around me, tail curling and uncurling.

"But who are you? Can you explain? There, there's this fog and-"

She looks at me, as if sizing me up. Moon said something about being chosen to go here. Was this cat chosen because of a strong mind? She looks as wise as she does beautiful. "Amnesia, it must be. You must have had your memory lost after you got here, it looks like. Of course, you seem only seven moons. They keep sending them in younger. Soon enough they will send newborn kits into this death trap." She mumbled something under her breath that I can't understand, but I don't ask. There is no need to seem weaker than I already am.

"You look pretty bad," she continues. "That head can't feel good, and there is something in your eye too, so no wonder it is foggy." Something in my eye? I feel the beginnings of a panic attack surging through me, but I try to push it down. "Lets get him back to the camp," she tells the tom who was carrying me before.

The tom grunts a reply, pulling a paw over his ears to clean them before grabbing me again. As gentle as he tries to be, his fangs sting a little in my scruff, almost matching with the throbbing pain from my head.

"Wait!" I yell. The she-cat stops and turns to me. "You never told me your name!"

She stifles a laugh, staring straight at me. "Names me nothing in this game, that is why so many are changed. Before I was sent here, my father called me Lightpaw. But like many, I renamed myself. Call me Valos."

With a flourish, Valos takes the lead again, the other two cats falling in beside her as we move slowly downhill. "My name is Furzepaw." I try to introduce myself. She doesn't look my way, but I can tell she is listening from how her ears tilt towards me.

"Fine name," she purrs, paws skimming the ground. "But is it you?"

I let the question dance across my mind. If many cats change their names, this place must have another force, the power of control and thought that moves a cat, that makes them change. Lightpaw sounds beautiful, but a Clan name is nothing if there is no Clan to go to. What is in a name that makes it special.

My mother always said she named me after furze, an unusual name for a normal plant. She wanted me to be great, to prove even a normal gorse bush can be a flame to start something new. Even ashes of dead forests can construct new life. The world is miraculous, and there is more here than will ever meet the senses.

I have that power now.


	5. Flight of Etenity

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 5: Flight of Eternity

One solid thought has echoed through my head, endlessly looping to perfection. Every rough edge smoothed, and loose end tied.

_I am the sunset, the end of light, bringer of darkness. I am the silent round, never once beginning, never once ending. I am the flight of eternity._

New power surges through my body. Simple words strung together have created new meaning, against all odds. Words are a new weapon, one to tamper with the minds of these others. My strength is gone, missing with every drop of blood that flows from my leg. The splintered bone still prods, but I let in hang limp. I can endure this pain.

Down here there is no such thing as day or night. Time has no longer seemed to flow, yet it hasn't stopped either. My weak apprentice body has gone, muscles of seven moons old growing tough and rippling with strength. Each step of my paw is another movement closer to ultimate power and control. No one can bring me down now.

The tunnels echo my pain, the terror that fills every shadow, every crack of my body. But through that I will shine. Pain can only drive me to greatness. Even if it kills me, I will die in greatness, chosen to be here. Yes, over the time my mind has quickened. Moments of my past life dance through my vision, the vision under closed eyelids. They tell me secrets that the fall made me forget.

It is odd to see the life you once lived come back after so much has been forgotten. I cannot match the faces that are seen and the voices that are heard to any names, but I feel like I _know_ them. Maybe if I just saw them again it would come back. Then everything would unfold. A spirit seems to guide these memories, the right ones coming to keep me moving.

There is one of these moments that strikes me as important, yet not a word of what was said remains in my memory. That is, no words other than one. My old name, Tiger, is the one thing that breaks these mute bonds. It reminds me of a world I one a knew, the creature I once was. That may be behind me now, but it gives me faith. It gives me the faith that I can escape here alive, and show everyone who I have become. This monster can no long be tamed, but let them remember that once loyal puppet to their plans. No one can control me now. No one can break me out of this prison.

Tiger is a strange name as well. I was named after the great Clans of the mightiest cats, much larger and stronger that the feeble beings we are today. What did the one who named me expect me to be? At least I know who I am. I am the flight of eternity.

* * *

I shiver against the cold that encases me. My mind still won't accept how Furzepaw, my only and last true friend, left me. The memory of him as he followed the poisoned honey song still frightens me, but not as much as what he had become.

How can one simple jump mess everything up so badly? If one piece of prey down here so hard to fight for? He left me to get a mouse he had heard, and left me alone with a bad paw. The worst case scenario has come. He doesn't know me, nor anything else. The charming voice that use to entrance me for days, and those perfectly outlined features made him perfect in my eyes.

Could one even say I was in love?

_Love. _It is a word so foreign to me, in an odd way. Can this be it? No, I am much too young. The other apprentices, the luck ones left unharmed, are probably striving to become warriors. Yet here I am, fantasizing over a tom I once knew as my best friend. But love, it is a whole different thing. The fluttering in my chest every time I saw him kept me that little she-cat who knew him so well.

I have lost him. He is still in the maze, I know, but now he is a different cat. Furzepaw lost that self of him, and turned into someone else; someone who found me stupid, and couldn't remember my face. Now I have nothing. There is no one in this maze for me to turn to. The only thing I can do is to keep on fighting.

That face, the one he had when he left, it still gives me chills. It was completely emotionless, glowing in the dull light of those scattered mosses. Everything was still, to the point where shivers attack my body even thinking about it. His body was so lifeless, that husk of somebody that I used to know.

I heave myself to my feet, back into my three-legged stance, my injured leg tucked under my belly. The pain attacks my body, but now I am use to it. Everything is strengthened by the rocky terrain and lack of food. Sure, there is enough prey to allow us the bitter taste of raw survival. Still, besides the increased muscles, my body is thing skin stretched over a bony figure. My ribs prod out, nearly breaking the fragile skin.

Hopping along, I turn the corner of another tunnel. I don't know where it leaves, and I don't care. At least while I walk, my mind can wander elsewhere. Thoughts of all I can imagine flood into the ocean of my mind. For these precious moments, I can here Owlpaw's voice again, and play through those memories of Furzepaw and our training sessions out and alone beneath the moon. Those memories are glimspes of strength and a better life, that hope that keeps me moving.

The memory is as crisp as the crumpled moss that lays dead under my paws. An old scene takes up my dark vision, streaming in first from the corners of my vision. Soon I am watching the scene from when I first started my training unfurl before me.

_Silver light crawled over the tall grasses, paving a new road underneath the full moon. The shinning glow from the warriors long passed on poured over them, lighting every inch that was unblocked by the long, twisting vegetation StarClan was happy it seemed, everything encased in their peaceful glow. This was perfect._

_ A flash caught the edge of her vision, pushing Moonpaw playfully over onto her back. It was Furzepaw, his elegant russet fur turned an odd shade of white. "Finally, we are both apprentices!" he meowed. Moon scramble to her paws._

_ "Yes!" she exclaimed. The moment had finally come where she had received her new mentor, and the two could be together once more. _

_ "Here," mewed Furzepaw. "How about I teach you a few battle moves?"_

_ The idea thrilled the new apprentice, who leaped to her feet."Come on! Show me some!" Moonpaw's voice was still kit-soft, a little squeaky compared to Furzepaw's gentle, deep purr._

_ "First we have to go to the training grounds! Follow me!"_

_ The tom jumped high into the air, graceful as he ran down the hill and into the forest. Moonpaw stared for a moment, then began to follow, unsure where to put her paws to move so quickly. She finally decided to stop imitating her friend, and settled for a jog down the gentle slope. The forest embraced her with open arms, leaves frozen in their silver-cloaked poses. _

_Cautiously__ Moon stepped forward, the beautiful leaves a little eerie. From within the foreign bracken came Furzepaw's voice. "Come on! This way, Moon!" _

_ Pulling her paws forward, Moonpaw moved towards her friend. Loose twigs clawed at her face, but the stinging was never enough to make her cry out in pain. Soon Furzepaw's scent filled her nose, running over her mouth. The sweet scent was comforting, as she continued down the path of thin undergrowth._

_ Something dashed in front of her, Moonpaw letting out a squeak of fear. Furzepaw cuffed a paw over her body, shrunken in the shadows. She padded softly into the moonlit clearing. "Loosen up!" Furzepaw meowed, teasing. Despite the fun-loving in his voice, the hints of a leader were heard. _

_ "It _is_ my first time out," Moonpaw mumbled. Her clumsy paws snagged on the thorns._

_ "Well, we may as well begin." The russet tom moved in front of her."Let's learn how to catch prey."_

_ "Sure!" Moonpaw clambered forward. "What first?"_

_ "Show me how you pounce." _

_ The gray she-cat shuffled her paws, then crouched down, balancing the weight across her paws. She pushed off, flying high into the air. Wind combed through her fur, the ground coming up to meet her. Scraping the grass, she landed on Furzepaw's tail. She sneezed, the fluff tickling her nose. _

_ "How did I do?" _

_ Furzepaw let out a purr. "You did great. We should get back to camp now. Maybe we can come back tomorrow." _

_ Moonpaw, a little glad to go, jumped to her feet and the two began the walk back to camp. Cool air brushed over the thick stems of the moor grasses, the chill so welcoming to the warmth of her fur. Furzepaw's tail curled around her own, the two intertwined together. At first it looked like a friend guiding another through the dark, but Moonpaw knew it was more. This was a spark, one that would soon catch flame._

**So, here is a chapter! For your review, here is a question I want answered by my readers. I don't want and will NOT take OC's, but names help. Question: In this maze, names mean a lot. If you were here, what do you think you would change your name to, if at all? And again, thanks for everything!**


	6. Sleet Tunnels

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 6: Sleet Tunnels

Light chases the darkness of both my mind and pelt away as we make it to another cavern. Valos leads, her long, elegant tail flowing behind her. This light is unlike any I have seen from down here. Unlike the subtle mosses and strange creatures, this looks real, almost like sunlight. Real _sunlight_ pouring through the tunnels. Or at least, that is what I think it is, before we turn the corner.

The sight before me takes me by surprise. Rather than another drab, dreary cave, we have entered into what seems another world. Rows upon rows for stone lead upwards, sloping through from the floor to the ceiling, which is at _least _ten tail-lengths high. A few cats mill across the room, tails waving lazily, guards loosened to the point where they could be sleep-walking. But these cats aren't the most amazing thing here.

Jutting from the floor is a crystal, large and mighty. Sharp edges prod the air, like branches of an ancient tree. The crystal is pure white, shinning brilliantly. Anyone could mistake it for the sun, as I did before seeing it. The radiant light covers the entire room, revealing several tunnels leading from the main cave, a few, smaller cats bustling in and out. I bask in this new feeling, not of warmth on the outside, but _inside_.

We move around the stone, staying close to the walls. Valos darts her gaze from in front of us to the crystal every few moments, looking nervous. What could be so bad about this brilliant piece of light? I notice a few cats, even smaller than me, appear through a tunnel that lays close to the ground. The move across the chilly floor, not making a sound before leaving through nearly invisible tunnels on the other side.

I turn to Valos, opening my mouth to speak, but her tail slaps across my muzzle. I remain silent as she meow. "I can explain everything later. For now, keep your head down and be quiet. We need to get you to Caleo, our healer."

A healer? The idea seems foreign to me, vaguely familiar, but I cannot put a name on it. It must be someone who can heal my head. Valos said it looked bad, so she must be worried. But why are they helping me? If this is a game, why would the not be trying to win? So far, I feel that all my choices have brought me farther to winning this game. There must be something else, though. Why else would Valos and the others take me in so well?

The light dims behind us, Valos turning sharply into a long tunnel. I squint to see as clearly as before. The walls here are curved nearly to perfection, smoothed into a long tube, with the floor wide and flat. The tom still dangles me by my scruff, but I no longer mind. I need to save my energy to focus on getting well again.

Meanwhile, the other two cats behind myself and bickering in powerful whispers of threats. Behind the anger, I can sense teasing. These two must be littermates. They look so much alike. Other than their eyes, the shinning green and dull amber lights, they are the same. Even when walking, they move in the same fluid motion. I would rather be held by them. This tom jerks me up and down every step, my head spinning.

As we continue, I notice tiny lights dotting the walls. At first, it looked like a stray lightning bug, but as we continue, I notice how the accumulate into clusters of the same bright light as the crystal. Watching the small dots of light, I forget about all the questions I have been dying to ask Valos. They dissolve into the mush in my mind where the rest of my life must have gone.

The path gently slopes downward, almost noticeable until my ears pop. Something farther up ahead, the sound of a coarse voice, echos towards us. Valos speeds up, tail flickering anxiously. What could it be? There are more cats here, anyone could see that, so this must be their leader. Or at least, I can let myself believe that it is to save me the pain later on. One cannot assume things here without some loss or another.

We reach a wide cavern at the end of the downward tunnel, passages of all shapes and sizes branching off once again. Root entangle the sides, holding up the walls. Patterns of glowing moss weave across the floor, shimmering under my dangling paws. A new wave of frozen air floats over my pelt, coming from the far side.

Valos waves her tail for us to follow, as once again we plunge into a dark, sightless tunnel. I close my eyes, focusing on my other senses on what lays up ahead. From behind me, I hear the chattering of the other two cats, who had been tense until this moment. One's voice is the shrill song of a she-cat, who must still be pretty young. The other sounds the same age, with a deeper voice; the voice belonging to a tom with a stutter.

"Opis, guess what?" the she-cat calls, her whisper on the edges of a shout and a high-pitched, normal voice.

The other grunts. "What?"

"Mum said that once we get home from our first mission, she will take us to the Star Pool!" The sharp voice is annoying as ever, but pressing my ears against my head doesn't help by much.

The tom's voice lifts slightly. "Really? That is awesome!" So they must be pretty young after all. Otherwise no one would show so much kit-like excitement in the tone of their voice.

Suddenly, we jerk to a halt, teeth holding onto my neck tightly. I wince, peering open an eyelid cautiously. The sparks of light gather up ahead, forming an arch at the end of the tunnel, right in front of Valos. Her fur glows a soft white, the tips of her feet at tail a golden that I had never noticed before. Now she seems even more amazing.

A cat faces her, its pelt patched together in several shades of brown and gold. By the scent, it seems to be a she-cat, but there is so much that could be wrong with my nose at the moment. I ignore that, and watch as the guarding cat glares at Valos.

"You've returned earlier than expected," the cat speaks in a high, honey-smooth voice. Her tail flickers sharply, as if trying to accuse Valos. "And you don't have one piece of prey."

"Quiet, Sleet. We have reasons," Valos hisses back. So, this cat's name is Sleet. Probably devised from a Clan name, since it sounds just like something someone back home would use for their kit.

Sleet glances my way. "Reasons? You mean this little kit?"

A growl rises in Valos' throat."Sleet, you remember being thrown in here, right? He is new to the maze, and has a bad injury. Let us see Caleo. Now."

"Make me." A fire seems to glow behind Sleet's eyes.

From behind Sleet, another voice rises from the shadows. "Sleet, they can pass." It sounds like the gruff meow of a tom, one much older than Sleet or Valos.

Sleet gives us a burning, hateful look as we pass through the tunnel she was guarding. I almost stick my tongue out at her for good measure, maybe just to taunt her, but I choose not to at the last moment before she is swept out of my vision. These strange cats, who seem to have defied the game, need to see me as someone useful. If I act like a kit, they may not help me at all.

We move through a tunnel similar to the one we had just passed through, the lights here a little brighter. Valos seems on edge, tail lashing back and forth frantically. The tom called Opis moves closer to her, but I can tell he is getting worried glances from the other she-cat. I doubt he should mess with Valos, herself already scaring me without a word coming from her mouth. Imagine what could happen when she lashes out.

Our pawsteps echo friendly from wall to wall, leaving dusty paw prints behind us. This section of burrowed soil is more jagged, a few larger rocks hanging part way down from the ceiling. Below, my paws scrape the dusty soil, the tom carrying me growing tired. "I can walk," I mew, suggesting that he put me on my feet.

He jolts to a halt, the ground rises towards me suddenly. I pick myself off the ground, shaking a bit of dust off. "Thanks," I try to say to the tom, but her has already moved on, beside Valos.

I scamper towards them, paws filled with energy. Once I am beside Valos, I slow to her steady pace. She glances a me, a small impressed look taking over her face for a moment before she turns again to face forward. A light, joyous feeling blossoms through my body to the point where I can no longer feel the pain of my head. My heart lightens for a moment, feet pacing hers perfectly.

The tom is on the other side of her, his black fur nearly invisible. However, his eyes glow bright, reflecting the light of everything around us. He has thick fur, or at least that is what I can see when I get a glimpse of his silhouette. He talks in a muddled whisper to Valos, so I can only hear snippets of their conversation.

"Will he want to see us?" Valos asks.

"...Caleo is always welcoming."

"But...we can't be sure."

The noise of their voices dies in my mind as I try to focus on the sound of other things. Opis and the other she-cat are silent, but the earth around us is not. Water runs, its gurgling faint in the distance. Sounds ripple from vibrations elsewhere, the floor shaking, yet I cannot see it move. Maybe I am just shaking from being nervous.

Up ahead is another opening, but this time several cats mill around it, each with a distinct scent. The light reflect on them, enough to se them apart. Two have golden pelts, one brown, and the rest, three others, are a mixture of gray, black, and white. Behind them, the thin tunnel gives way into some sort of large den, with arched ceilings and cozy nests from what I can see. The cats who are guarding sit tall, tails set in perfect arcs.

I breathe in their scent, trying my best not to make too many assumptions. Three of the cats are she-cats, the other three toms. All are perfectly still. Whatever healer Valos has brought me to must be pretty special to get all this secrecy. There have been so many drab tunnels guiding us to this one secluded den. I wonder where everyone else rests. Are there ranks here to set everyone apart, or do they just sleep in any place they can find? The image of that crystal from before flashes through my mind. Maybe those tunnels branch off into their dens!

Before I continue on my track of thought, the guards begin to shuffle slightly, all in one fluid motion. They all move together, exactly the same. I note that, keeping the thought filed in my head. These cats must train or be selected for different jobs. Sleet from before had told us that Valos was suppose to be hunting, another clue to support my theory.

"Password?" One of the guards, a she-cat, has stepped forward. Her golden pelt glistens in the faint light.

Valos steps forward, tail swishing violently. She looks like she wants to nip the ear off the guard. Whispering something that I can't hear from my position three tail-lengths away. She stares into the she-cat's eyes. The guard's eyes reflect equal hatred, but she steps aside. "Enter."

We push past them, all six of them nodding at me in unison as I pass. Something in the back of my mind seems to flash a quick warning as I step from the darkness and into the den of Caleo: into the realm of the healer.

**So,yes, this chapter is not the most exciting. I just wanted to give everyone that look into the other cats that were still there, and that kind of thing. Even the best stories need a filler chapter here and there! Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	7. Healer

**My dear Thorn, I am not quite sure how to reach you now that you have left the site. I want to continue those many stories of yours if it is your wish, but they are deleted. If you could just PM me for one day to give me the information. I would be thankful for it! I miss you with all my heart, and I continuing Sprouting Leaves in your honor. If you are still reading, leave me a guest review of some sort. I miss you!**

**To everyone else: remember to review, and thanks for hanging in this far!**

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 7: Healer

As we pass by the guards, I notice not one of them flinches. They all have learned of our purpose, but can't they have their own opinion? an't they still fight? Or have they been trained for just the opposite? Even with understanding at least some of this place, this group of cats still baffles me. They are all so organized and orderly. How could this have come to be?

Valos moves to the front of our patrol, and motions for us to stop. Around me, the two toms and she-cat all sit with tail tucked neatly at their paws. They look almost peaceful. It takes my brain a moment to recognize that I should do the same, and I scramble to sit up straight and calm like them. Valos paces in front, watching for something.

A brown paw slips from the shadows, followed by another, bringing the body of a young tom into the mossy light. His body is long and lithe, fur smoothed down to perfection. This cat is young. I think he would be around seventeen moons old, but yet again, my eyes can deceive. The faint light seeps away the colors as he hobbles out. But something about his isn't right. As I see the full body of the tom, I see that he has only three legs.

His hind leg, the one far from me as in to hide it, is chopped only half a tail-length from his body. The fur seems to have grown over the left over numb, but looking at it makes me feel hollow inside. How could this have happened? By the way he holds his body, this cat looks cheerful and alert, like this disability has caused him no hardship.

Valos stands, greeting the tom. The exchange a few whispers before he turns to us. He opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by Valos. "Everyone, Furzepaw, this is Caleo, our healer."

Caleo steps in front of the white she-cat, hoping off the weight on his one hind leg to move forward. "Yes, Furzepaw is it? Come here so I can have a look at you."

For a moment I try not to move. He seems like a nice cat, charming and handsome compared to what I have seen so far. His face is even, without a visible scratch, and his pelt slick. However, that can't keep me from staring at the missing leg. Finally I step forward, beside the tom, breathing in his fresh scent of herbs. It unnerves me being so close to the cat, but I stand directly in front of him, staring into his eyes.

He sweeps his vision over me, probably addressing what he will need to heal me. How does he even know so much to be their healer? Do even medicine cat apprentices have the ability to be chosen? It doesn't seems right, but I wouldn't know. We had a new medicine cat when I left, one who didn't need an apprentice yet.

Caleo looks up over my head, settling his gaze on the other cats. "Thank you three for bringing this apprentice into my care. Opis, Skia, Zelki, you are all dismissed for today. Go back to the main cave." I hear footsteps as the other cats turn and leave. So, the tom that carried me and the she-cat are Skia and Zelki. These are odd names, yes, but I save them in my memory for later as Caleo turns to me once again.

"So, Furze is it?"

I am in shock for a moment. No one has ever called me by just the first part of my name before. I know Moon's real name is Moonpaw, but Moon just fits her better. Now I feel like the Clan is gone, far behind me. Finally I give the tom a little nod.

"I'm Caleo, healer down here. Your head looks pretty bad. an you remember what happened?"

I try to pull together the wisps of memory from the crevices of my mind, finding nearly nothing. "Moon said I was hunting when it happened. I can't remember anything since then, but Moon did try to fill me in."

The healer nods slowly. "Come into my den for a minute. We can speak more back there."

Shaking a little, I stand. There is a faint pain behind my eyes, but I ignore it the best I can. If this tom can handle losing a leg, I can deal with a little head ache. It hasn't stopped me yet.

I pad behind Caleo, who moves surprisingly fast for only having three limbs. He moves in a steady pattern, stepping forward with a front paw, then hopping to move the back one forward. It is amazing how one can adapt so well. I move slower than normal as to not out walk him.

Caleo leads me down a tunnel, Valos following almost silently behind. I turn, not quite surprised to see her, but relieved to have her presence. Her sweet scent pools into my nose, softening the stress in my head. Finally, Caleo turns a corner in the tunnel, leading me into a small cave.

"It isn't much, but welcome to my den," he meows. I glance around in awe. Sloped ceilings meet from all sides curve upwards, meeting together at least three or four tail-lengths above the floor. Creveses and grooves are carved into all sides, layers of dried mosses and scraps of grasses piled all over. A bitter-sweet scent pools onto the floor.

"It is cozy," I remark, padding to the corner when Caleo stands.

"Yes." He sighs for a moment, looking at me. "Sit down and let me asses your condition a little more. Valos told me you have amnesia among other injuries."

I move carefully to the side, settling down on a patch of warm moss. Caleo hobbles to one of the shelves of herbs, nosing through them. "Furze, can you tell me everything you remember?"

"Well, I remember waking up in a tunnel, not being able to hear anything. This she-cat, Moon, told me we were sent here from a Clan and-"

Caleo cuts me off for a moment. "A gruesome, sick excuse of a Clan." I stare at him for a moment, silence drifting between us. "Sorry, go on."

"She tried to sum it all up, but she kept braking down in sobs.I don't know what is going on. Apparently we trained for a moon together before being chosen. There is another one who came here with us, named Tigerpaw, though he must have changed it by now."

The brown tom nods. I notice a pile of herbs at his paws, or at least them. He spits out a blob of green slime, some sort of poultice his was chewing. "Furze, I need to apply this to your head now, to keep it from getting infected and to start the healing process. It will sting, and when you wake up, you won't remember anything for a little bit. Don't worry, everything will be alright."

He hops forward once, then drops onto his side. The healer heaves for breath, before rolling onto his stomach, eye level with me. Herbs in one paw, he moves closer. His paw raises into the air, a single drop falling onto my head before the rest of his paw comes down with it.

An explosion of pain clouds my vision.I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to fight back, but it is no use. A fire of angry waves is eating me alive. It feels like every piece of skin in my body is being shredded apart. I thrash around, but that only makes it worse. For a moment, there is peace, before everything goes dark.

* * *

I groan, shuffling my paws a little. My sight remains dark, only a few dots of light floating across now and then. A throbbing pain still echos through my head, everyone slight movement I make a struggle. I pull my eyelids up a little, my vision blurry and unfocused. Something is wrapped around my paws and tail. When I try to lift my head, something presses against it, squashing my skull.

My eyes flicker open, but there is nothing around me. The beating of my heart against my ribs seems to encase the cave in its rhythmic _thump_. Even in the near silence I can tell I am alone. No one is watching me. What happened? Did they abandon me, or are they just leaving me here to get some rest?

I lean over just a smidgen, feeling the walls with my tail. There seems to be something short but solid to my right, and empty den with damp moss to the left. Nearby it seems as if not a sound is made, but straining my ears, I can hear faint voices. One is a she-cat, and there are two distinct toms. Valos must be out there! They didn't abandon me after all!

Once again I try to struggle to my paws, but I am helpless against the force of whatever I am bound in. I begin to thrash, moving as much as I can to escape. No one seems to hear me. The voices far off seem to disappear all together, as near-silent paws bounce their fading sounds from wall to wall. I stop, completely still for a moment. They need to think I am asleep still.

I close my eyes, slowly relaxing every muscle in my body. My breathing become deeper with each passing second as the faint pawsteps grow the smallest note higher. Scents begin to entwine with the heavy air, one belonging to Valos for sure. I cannot tell who the others belong to. There are two toms, coming so close I can feel their stinking breath on my skin. I focus on making it look like I am asleep, but there s no use in trying.

Claws dig into my scruff, lifting me off the ground. I try not to wince of make a movement, but something overpowers that. Now I cannot hear anything, I am stuck in a bubble of my own. As darkness encloses me, I focus on what I can do, which is either attack or play dead, neither seeming appealing. My paws gingerly scrape the ground. My weight must be a little more than this tom is used to.

I keep myself as alert as I can, ears swiveling to pick up even the slightest sounds. But something isn't right. Wherever I am,we are surrounded by bitter herbs, and something stronger. But before I can make it out, the feeling of a hundred sharpened claws digging through my body engulfs me. I try to struggle, but before I can understand what is happening, I am knocked out cold.


	8. Setting Moon

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 8: Setting Moon

No longer can this voice captivate me in its endless turns. I have decided to grow wings now, defying anything that comes at me. My feet have left the earthy realm of gravity. I am free now from the bonds of the land. Let me fly. Even with no sky, I can feel it, the sunlight and clouds. They can give me a new power. Nothing can hold me back, nothing can bring me down.

Twice now there have been encounters with other creatures, ones who thought I would fear them. The beasts had no chance. Now they fear me, begging to me that I may spare their useless lives. My feet need not touch the ground, yet my strength is like a viper, striking elegantly and deadly. They have no power now. This is my place to reign, and they will be my servants. I can command that they die, and it will be done.

The first attack was all my fault. I let my guard slip, like many others have. One minute of cleaning out my broken leg was all it took for these monsters to find me. They we tall, leaning their scaled heads forward and arched along the tunnel's roof. Shriveled wings, not used for so long, hung limp that their sides. Where eyes should have been, there were only indents and empty sockets. The long bodies twisted down the tunnel behind them, at least ten tail-lengths.

Even without fear as an option, I didn't attack. What was the point? They couldn't see me, and even their thrashing heads must have only been able to sense larger, more frantic movements. Those scaled bodies were clumsy and sluggish. Even I could outrun these things, but I held my ground. The idiot should have known that it couldn't pass me. Every small movement I made did nothing to them.

One lashed out, some tail-like appendage smashing into the ground a whisker-length from my injured paw. I climbed to my feet, glancing back, but it was too late. A second monster was already rearing up to pin me down. I froze, and closed my eyes blissfully. They could have taken me then and there without me caring one bit. But that couldn't happen once my battle mode clicked.

My claws unsheathed, nettle sharp on the frosty ground, my lips pulling back in a snarl. Empty eyes seem to see through me without seeing at all. Even without sight they can see more than myself, but I do not care. I have nothing to hide, no secrets to keep. A vine-like arm smashed into the ground beside me, missing me by only a whisker length, the foul stench flowing into my nostrils. They were covered in a thick slime, that smelled musty, like dried herbs.

I pressed back on my paws, launching into the air. Musty fog seems to swirl around me for a bit, before my claws latch onto a scaly surface. A thing layer of ooze makes staying in place hard, but not impossible, as the monster throws its head about violently. A drop of slime dropped from above, sticking to my face just above my right eye. The skin burned furiously, but I held steady.

Suddenly the limb lifted into the air, trying to pull from my grip. But I am strong, a furious beast. I can be something else, a slayer of the earth's monsters. I pulled away as the limb lashed back, my paws twisting through flight and landing on the monster's head. A few strands of fur, _my _fur, floated down around me.

The weak spots of the monster appeared in my mind. _Strike the eyes,_ the voice in my head urged me, _even without having eyes, it is a weak spot._

I obeyed without a thought, dragging a claw through the eyelid. Blood has gushed over my paws, leaving them stained red. I didn't bother cleaning them. Let everyone see what I can do. The red liquid of life spilled over the floor. I just jumped down, and left the creature to die. Let it die at my hand, it is more honorable that by an other.

I lean over, resting my head on a memories of that encounter drift from my mind, leaving it empty from the images of blood. My claw ache, still worn from holding up my entire weight for such a time. I brush away a few speckles of clinging mud off my pelt, laying down to rest. Tiredness washes away in pure, cleaning waves, pushing them from my body.

My leg has gotten no better. Scraps of scabbing skin dot the edges, but go no further. The bone still prods out a little, the only white substance I have seen this entire time in the caves full of dark. When walking, it no longer walks and moves, but hangs limp, dragging on the slightly uneven ground. Blood still leaks from it now and then, so I gave up on trying to clean the wound.

Something lets off a small _boom, _the powerful echo far away. I pull myself to my paws, a gust of air following the sound and whipping through my fur. Then it stops as fast as it came, billowing through the tunnels up ahead. What could it be? Another monster? I let my claw slip out a little,just in case I have to use them, and follow the wind.

* * *

My breathing comes out in heavy gasps, pain pulsing through my body from the leg tucked close to my stomach. I have rested too much. Now I have to focus on finding Furzepaw. Those sickening voices that dragged him off haven't reappeared since. What has it been, a few hours, or half a moon? I can't tell.

But I do understand one thing. My body has grown since the beginning. A thicker coat of shiny gray fur has covered my pelt, so I am more shadow-like than before. Muscles have strengthen from spots where they were once so sore. The only problem is, my injured leg has not grown with the rest. Now it is healed other than a few soft, weak points. New skin has wrapped around the old wound, fur beginning to grow. However, the leg itself is now shorter than the others. How will I ever walk correctly again?

A stiff crack brings me to a halt, my joints adjusting once again. Sometimes this chases away the pain, other times it just _hurts._ I lean down and carefully give the popping joint a few quick licks, before pricking my ears to an odd sound. There seems to be something else, not a fox like I have seen before, in these tunnels. I dash forward as fast as my broken body will allow.

Suddenly,a gust a cold wind bursts into my face, a few loose hairs washed away with it as it thunders on past me. I turn my head, but there is nothing, the air rippling faintly in the dull light to revert back into its plain, usual shape. I push back the steady, rising fear in my stomach. What could have created such a gust? With it, there was a faint howling sound. Who could it be?

I turn down the way the wind came, and pad slowly down the sloped tunnel. Thin walls grip my sides, squeezing closer. I take in a jagged breath, but it is pushed out of me after a second more of struggling. The choking hold grips me now, killing me in a silent hug. I let my leg hang loose, pressing forward.

The breath floats from my lungs, and I stumble forward into complete darkness. The narrow tunnel finally let off into a cavern, leaving me with at least room to breath. I close my eyes, as they are useless here, and listen. A faint echoing _thump_ vibrates above me. Furzepaw? Could it be? I haven't seen anyone here for so long, our time on the surface seems like a distant dream.

I race forward, forgetting everything. In my luck, I find a gap in the wall to follow, tunneling upward. I curve my body, climbing further. I must get to him! Now! My paws press hard on the loose gravel chunks that carpet this hole. Those other pawsteps grow nearer, my heart about to explode.

Finally, they are right in front of me. "Furzepaw!" I shout, not caring to smell who it really is. I stop for a moment, confused. That's not him.

From the back shadows, a dim light flickers, a cat stepping forward. His body is tough and muscles, dark stripes cutting across his pelt. "Hello," a deep, tom voice grunts. I turn to run, but stop. Maybe he can help me.

"Who-who are you?" I stutter in fear. "Have seen Furzepaw?"

"I am Set," his booming voice growls. He stilk sounds young through, like there is something holding him back. I tilt m head. I don't remember anyone by that name.

I think for a moment. If I want to have any chance with this cat helping me, I need to be more than an apprentice. But what other name can I use? Moon is such a sweetheart name that Furzepaw uses. I can no longer be that kit. I am stronger now, even with a crippled leg. Maybe if I am a warrior? He will believe it, right? I open my mouth to speak. "I an Moonflight."


	9. Trial

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter Nine: Trial

Something cold and foggy encased my brain, and all those sparking memories as well. A breeze of warm air gently enfolds me in its arms before letting me fall. I see nothing but the blackness. Where am I? I pull together the scraps of everything I still have. We are in the maze, no one knows why, other than the oldest cats here. Caleo is their healer. He told me it would try to fix my head, but am I fixed if I can't see?

The ground reaches up to get me, solid rock pressing all the air from my lungs. I urge my eyes to open a crack, but that is all they do. Peering through blurry vision, I can only tell that we are in some room, one that is definitely not empty. A few voices pass between my ears, but the pain in my head, that feels the same as before. I can't tell what they are saying, but the hushed mews must be exchanging important messages.

I close my eyes and lay limp on the ground to save myself the strain of holding myself up. Near me, someone coughs, a deep echo riveting through the smooth cavern. Someone a little father away speaks, and from what I hear, also sounds like it is interrupting.

"Who is this?" the voice squeaks, sounding like a she-cat, and a young one at that.

The deep voice steps in again, the loud sound stinging my ears. "This is Furze, a new entry to the maze. A patrol found him in the Water Cave, and now we have to figure out what to do with him."

A wave of nose washed pass, but I am unable to pull out anything that I can understand. I moan, rolling onto my side, but the crowd doesn't seem to notice. Their chatter eventually dies down with a yowling tom. "Quiet, everyone!" he shouts, even as they don't seem to hear him. The last few meows are hushed by angry hisses from the crowd as he tries to continue.

"He has a debt to us," the tom begins again, but is interrupted.

"Make him tell us about the Clan!" someone yells, sound cracking in the air. It sounds like a tom, maybe a young warrior in age. "What is going on up there?"

"Shush!" The large tom sounds like he is speaking directly to me. A wet nose, and tuft of fur brush against my ear. I peek open my eyes, seeing a great, ragged tom staring down at me. "Oh, you are awake," he whispers, then lifts his head to face the group.

A few murmurs ripple, silenced at a flick of his tail. "Cats of the Maze," he announces. "He will stay with us. Once he is awake and well, Furze will tell us of the Clan, of the family we left behind."

Cheers roar from them, and once again something digs into my back, lifting me up. But this time I am ready. I throw back my head, fangs bared. A golden cat, the one who was trying to grab me, backs up a pawstep. His head falls beside his paws, pretending to look afraid. Instead, I spring into action, letting my claws slide out to show everyone that I can be fierce.

I swish my tail threatening from side to side, puffing my fur up to look bigger. The ache in my head disappears as adrenaline and fear rush it at the same time. My claws flash one more time, the audience going silent. A few hushed meows run through the air that has grown chilly. Shivers attack my insides, racking through my hollow chest. Then, without thinking, I pounce.

My claws meet flesh before the rest of my body, warm blood trickling down. The cat steps back further, glancing behind its path as I press the helpless piece of fur backwards. "What is going on here?" I demand, trying to keep my trembling voice firm. "Tell me now!"

"We-we b-brought you h-here to s-s-save you," the cat stutters. From its voice, it must be a young tom, older than myself for sure. I swivel my ears, hearing another cat approach behind me. His footsteps are light, almost feathery.

"There is more," I say, my voice stern. "Why was I brought _here,_ to this gathering or sorts? Who are you all?"

The golden tom stops pacing backwards, one of his feet pawing the empty air at the edge of the platform. "I- I swear there is an explanation for this! Just let me-"

I don't let his finish. Instead, the pressure in my hind legs releases, propelling me forward. I feel _alive_, even as his body loses life at my claws. I slice upward, right above his eye. The attack does just enough damage to by me some time. Other cats, the ones watching me, have all rose silently to their feet, a single note held between them. I notice their eyes are closed.

Flailing my paws against the ground for a moment, I manage to turn around, and begin a dash. Speed builds up around me, wind roaring as I displace it. A feeling of excitement and relief passed through me, my heart light. It feels like no one can catch me now, as I press onward, faster than ever before. The pain releases its grip on me, freeing me from a cage that I have been held in for all too long.

The tunnel I burst through begins to branch out, thinning as I push on straight forward. My pawsteps bounce off the walls, making it feel like I am a whole army, hundreds of cats in one. A feeling of relish swells through me, touching the chilled pads of my paws with a thick warmth. But soon it is gone. The echos are not just mine.

I glance back carefully, the out most section of my sight seeing them. A stream of cats charge through the dim light, their pelts blurry into a surging sea of fur. I let out a soft _mrrow_, waving my tail as in to taught them. They snarl in reply, fangs cutting a white light through the dark. Turning back, I put on a burst of tired ache slowly comes back as much as I wish it wouldn't, but still I press forward.

For a moment I am a feather, lighter than air, stronger than the tides. I drift in a current of air they create. They push me forward even when trying to catch me, and it is marvelous. I would laugh in their faces, but the poor fools understand nothing. The ground seems to disappear under the tiring strokes of my paws, but these cats don't give in just yet.

From the tips of my vision I see cats disappear, darting into other tunnels. My heart drops into my stomach. They know these tunnels better than me. Surely I will be a bit of prey for them, the kit that got away. There is no way I can make it out now.

As I am about to screech to a halt, someone joins me at my side. Not someone with snarls and claws out to kill me. No, it is Valos, standing taller than me, her golden paws gleaming with hope. I look up at her, she looks at me. Our eyes meet for a moment, a soundless thought passing between us. She is helping me escape.

"Go," she whispers, her nose tickling my ear. "I'll catch up in a moment. Until then, run where to ground slopes up. Only forward, Furze. I will meet you there." Her white pelt disappears from my side.

A bit confused, I run faster. She stops, moving further and further behind me with each step I take. But I know she will be back, I can feel it. She shouts something at the cats. The thundering paws stop, leaving me the dwell in the light _thumps_ of my weary pads, the shriek of unsheathed claws on rock. Her voice rises up behind me, and I cling onto it for power.

"Cats of the Maze," her faded voice commands. "What is going on? I told you to have a trial, not let to prisoner escape!"

For a second I almost whip around to shout at her. Prisoner? I thought they were helping me! Why would they do this? I push that one thought back into my brain, but it throws two words back at me. _The game. _It controls not even the actions we mean to do, but everything within us.

But I press it all away. She is only making a diversion to slow that down. The other cats mutter just enough for me to her them. She starts to speak against, but I am far enough to hear nothing. Just as she said, the ground begins to slope upward. It is subtle at first, with hardly a difference. However, soon that changes.

Pressing on, I haul myself up the incline. Each pawstep brings a shot of pain through my raw lungs. The adreniline that once sped me up now leaves a hollow gap in my body. Energy seeps from me and into the frozen ground below. Finally the ground flattens, breath staggering from me, gasping for air.

Up ahead is something new, a simple thing restored now to its full glory. Who knew something so plain, once taken away and then brought back, could be so wonderful. This beauty escapes my words, drifting up like a butterfly. Up ahead is sunlight.


	10. Sun

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 10: Sun

"Moonflight?" The cat named Set paces around me. His dirty, russet tail twitches under my nose. I do not flinch under his amber gaze as I pierces through me. He must not know how scared I really am. If I look too weak, he will see right through me into that little, helpless apprentice I know I am.

"Yes," I say, looking forward. My eyes hold one point, focusing straight ahead to avoid wandering.

"You don't sound familiar. The name is so mature for a little she-cat like you." His voice is smooth, liquid like flowing water, both deadly and pure.

I turn away, his tail brushing against my cheek. My fur bristles up. "Get away! Unless you can help me, go. I don't have time to play around."

"Feisty, are you?" he asks, the rhetorical question burning in my mind. "Say, can you tell me something? Where are we from, you and I? There is the barrier, I just can't remember the details."

I stand back. Why is he so familiar? The fur, though matted, looks like the stripes of the tigers of old. Those eyes, they drag me in, reminding me of something I knew, or someone. "Tigerpaw?" The word silences the steady hum of the air. Set settles down, paws curling under his body. He shuffles awkwardly for am moment before looking into my eyes. In there is a sense of wanting, of begging me. This must not be the Tigerpaw I knew, who is now caged within.

"So that is what I was called," he says, licking a paw and dragging it painfully slow over his ear. "Such a simple name, promoting a monster. I assure you I am not a monster."

I gulp, pulling myself back a little. He can't know, he can't figure out about me. How could he? My mother said as a kit that I would be down here for another reason, even something I cannot control. I feel the fur on my face grow warm. He can probably see my guilt. Set is quicker than me, stronger, and most likely ready to take me down.

Then I notice something, the leg he has been hiding. Before he was moving so smoothly I would have never known. But now I see it. Gray-white bone pulls open between threads of skin that are barely held together. The foot hangs limp, as if it could rip off at any moment. "What is that?" I ask, looking at his leg and flicking towards it with my tail. "What happened?"

Set growls under his breath, but after a moment, raises his head to look a me. "Since I woke up here, it was like this. I know nothing of before the darkness. But this leg, this was because of the fall."

"The fall from the camp?" As soon as the question leaves my mouth I regret it. What kind of stupid question is that? Tigerpaw here most likely can't remember the camp, or cats in it for that matter. This is like Furzepaw all over again. I feel a lump grow in my throat, but try to swallow it back down. Furzepaw, oh how I wish he was here again.

Tigerpaw, or Set, whatever I can call him, sits up. "Just, stop asking questions. Tell me about the camp, wherever we came from, and why we are here. Knowledge is what I seek, and you are the only one I have seen here. This maze yields no answers to a deep mind."

Taking a deep breath, I try to explain the Clan to my former Clanmate. "See, we use to live up at the surface, with the sun on our pelts and the forest under our paws. But our Clan was odd. We once came from the great Clans, the ones of old. After living among others for so long, a leader of old moved the Clan into a hidden forest, sealed of from the outside world. No one can remember the names of those who came, and can barely recall why. Some say it was a thirst for ultimate knowledge, others argue that we are here so that the leader can get something from this new land.

"Now, this leader that brought us to where the Clan above us now stands had a special intent, and a new idea on how to train kits and apprentices into strong, intelligent warriors. That is when this maze was made. No one is quite sure how he did it, but apparently many cats even from the streets outside the Clan came to help. They were payed for their day's tunneling in prey, which was so rare in this season."

"But then, Hailstar, the leader that we left behind took over. The whole Clan just took in the new way of life. Before this maze was used to train, once a day the apprentice coming in to explore a little more and learn with his or her mentor. Kits grew stronger, Hailstar creating an army from the remains of a slipping Clan. Then he began to get hungrier for blood and battle. Apprentices had to complete a portion of the maze to become a warrior. The weak were killed off, the strong grew more powerful. Everything was going according to his will, as evil as it might be.

"Now we are stuck in the maze, searching from the end. I know other cats are here. Furzepaw," she paused to take a deep breath. "Furzepaw came with us, and every few moons, more cats are sent in. One has escaped the maze in my entire lifetime, but we can get out of here together."

"Together?" Set's voice softened. "Moonflight, I agree. We both are injured, but we stand a better chance together. I have seen what monsters lie here, and no longer can I go alone."

I nearly squeal with excitement, stopping myself to make me look mature. "Let's go then!" I stand, letting him struggle into his feet. A new energy enfolds us as we move forward, through the tunnels ahead of us. He moves just like me. _Step, Hop. Step, hop. _Maybe it is good that I moved on from Furzepaw.

* * *

I flop against the cold ground, letting it calm my heart that seems to fly from my chest. Quickly I whip my head around to check behind me, but I can't seem any remains of the cats that nearly caged me in that darkness forever. Those 'Cats of the Maze' or whatever looked like a Clan or sorts, but odd. What were they doing with me there? It looked like some kind of meeting, unlike any one I have seen.

The cats there must have some other system. No one seemed to be leader,but they answered each other and one heart and mind. And those cats that were traveling with me, Opis and all of them, must have gone back to whatever they were suppose to do, as hunters. At least, I believe that they were a hunting party after all that the guards and other cats said. And where is Caleo? He helped me, yes, but who's side is he on? The healer, if he ran away, can't have gone far without a leg.

Another moan escapes my mouth, my legs pulling me forward just a little. That light, the faintest crack of it, drags me onward. It isn't the faint blue tinged glow of the mosses that I have grown used to. No, this is pure sunlight, bright in its yellow-white, joyous way. I have to squint to take it in. As beautiful as it is, it is too much after being down here such a long time. One paw at a time I pull forward, closer to it.

The small break of level ground begins to slope upward again, this time not so steep. My soft paws throb with pain, my clouded head surprisingly empty of pain. Light swells and grows before me, clear and bright, taking over my vision completely for a moment. Then it clears, leaving me with a perfect blue sky outlined by rich brown roots that curl up, forming a den all around me. Twitching my head around, I try to take it in. This is a den that can see the sun, but is made so that I cannot escape. A perfect dome curves above me, several thick notes of birdsong rolling from it.

Turning around, I note several scratches in the walls, some deep enough to reach solid stone, one thick line running over a thin one. Others are light a feathery, adoring the walls with designs of all sorts. But the light, it is so beautiful, the perfect mix of creamy white with a tinge of gold. At that though, an image flashes though my head. Valos, what happened to her? Is this her den?

"Hello," a voice, belonging to a tom, meows. I whip around, a bit afraid. How was I stupid enough not to notice that someone was here? The tom is light gold, fur tinged a warm creamy white like the sun. Quick eyes, the color of the fresh pine forest, dart, scanning over me. I scramble back a little. "Who are you, quiet one?" he asks. "Can't even say hello?"

"Um, hi," I mew, taken aback.

"Don't worry, young one," his voice reassures me. "You haven't been her long. Furze, welcome to the light."


	11. Tales of Sky

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 11: Tales of the Sky

I gaze around the dark room taking in everything. This is _the light,_ the thing I have been missing for so long. Suddenly it feels like another part of me just merged together, making me whole. Even the shadow that sprawls out behind me is comforting. A flash builds through my mind, trying to tell me something I still cannot recall. Everything before the maze, it feels like I could reach out and snag it with a paw, but I keeps disappearing.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" the tom meows. I feel like I should answer, but the lump in my throat hardens to make me stay in silent awe. "A new sunrise comes, a new day. Many cats are down here, Furze. Some are driven insane, because they never see this. I get the lucky spot, even if it is an eternal position."

I look into his deep green eyes, trying to pick out any clues left there. He only turns to face the open patch of sky, face both twinkling with joy and knowledge. "Who are you?" I ask quietly, barely more than a whisper.

He sighs deeply, eyes fluttering close for a moment. "It is complicated, young one. I am sure you wouldn't care to hear the whole tale."

"Don't worry, I will listen!" I say, sitting down. My tail curls softly at my paws. "Tell me!"

The tom sits down beside me on a thin piece of tattered green-brown moss. A rough cough scrapes through his throat. "Well, it was many moons ago, before the time of Hailstar. We were not alone, but beside other groups of cats. Side by side, we were all as one. Then our leader, renaming himself Strikestar led us away. I had only been made an apprentice the day before he made the announcement of the move, and was shocked to find that my training would be so unique, or _awesome _as we would have said.

"No one is sure why we decided to leave. Strikestar was a knowledgeable leader, not unkind to us in any way. We were all shocked, yes. That territory had always been our home, generation by generation, since the time of the Great Journey. But it was final. After half a moon to announce it to the other Clans, and lend our elders to them, we left.

"Moons went by with failure to find a home. Several times we pleaded to let Strikestar settle somewhere closer. Soon the cold months were upon us. The cats of the Twolegplace were cold and hostile, as were those of the mountains. Several cats, even my own brother died along that harsh journey through the snow and ice at our paws. I received my warrior name, one I no longer care for."

I prick up my ears. This is all so new to me. Moon told me that Hailstar was leader to us, and about the maze, but I never knew about anything else of this. Other Clans? I have only ever known my own Clan, and not even its name at that, but only the fact that it exists. Who is he to know all this?

"Confused?" he asks me, halting his tale. A flake of dried moss crumbles in his paws, the tom's body shifting a little.

"No," I mumble. "It's just, I know nothing about this. Moon, the cat who was with me when I can last remember,she told me about some things, like Hailstar, but never that is all very interesting, about the Clan and everything."

The tom nods slowly. "Well, I will continue. As new-leaf came, we found the valley, the one where your Clan still is. Out of the hill was a small cave, with the earth dug out. Something must have sparked in Strikestar's mind then, because he never left that spot. The camp was built from woven branches and leaves, but atop his perch above his den, Strikestar always watched the cave. One generation pasted on, and I soon had m heart set on a she-cat, kits were born, apprentices made warriors.

"As the oldest in our Clan, only senior warriors when we left on the journey, began to die off at an old age, Strikestar began his plan. First, well trained warriors would take turns going into the cave and digging from dawn to sun-high. Another shift would take their turn then until moon-high. Paw by paw the earth was scraped away and used as defenses for the camp. Everyone believed the idea was brilliant. Ever since we had left, no predators had seized us, but it was best to be safe.

"After several moons, nearly three seasons of working, the cave had turned into an array of tunnels. Smaller groups of of tunnelers worked every day, everyone else returning to their normal lives. I gained an apprentice, one younger than you are now, and we trained in the dark to enhance both her and my own ability. Later she became a great cat to the Clan, someone who everyone loved.

"Then it came. One cold day, mist cloaking our home, Strikestar gave us a message. Secretly, until that point, he had been using rogues and wild cats to extend the maze beyond what we had ever intended. He also told us about the maze,and its true purpose. In here is something that he wanted, the secrets of the earth kept in a single patch of the earth, down hundreds of tai-lengths. It was a deathtrap, but we all knew what was coming.

"At first, he sent new warriors down into the maze to hunt for pieces of the riddle he told. Most of them came, telling tales of cats that had gone mad from every little thing that they had gone without. Not knowing time or seeing sunlight drove them into a sustain set of mind: to kill. Ones who escaped told the Clan these tales, making us both frightened to the very core, while also making the younger ones yearn for adventure.

"I was still only 30 moons old when it happened. Strikestar and his council decided if they were to have any success in this maze, they would need someone to go down and be the Teller of Time, Guardian of Light. I was carved this den, one trapped into the earth, yet still free and opened to the sky. Now I am the way of the maze, helper to little apprentices like you that find their way past the Cats of the Maze."

I gulp in a bit of air. This is all too much to take in at once. Teller of Time? Cats drive mad? My paws shuffle underneath me, unsettled. "Where did Hailstar come in?"I ask, impatiently. "How have you survived all this time?" The words all seem to escape my mouth without a warning, blurting out a little too loud.

The tom chuckles softly. "Another time young child. You are still injured, yes? It is time you get rest."

Curling into a tighter ball of fur, I close my eyes, despite the pain that hangs behind them. Images flash behind my eyes, deep within my mind. Pictured of cats, small and frail, falling through a hole into the darkness. Tumbling, tumbling, the fall then _CRACK!_

My eyes flung open, legs shooting out in a matter of seconds. In front of my is Valos, her pelt glowing with its radiance refined in the dimming sunlight. Her breath is heavy, and she nods to me before flopping down on a larger, softer piece of green moss in the corner. The tom turns to face her for a moment, face glowing. I glance between to two for a moment when I notice something.

"Valos, lovely to see you back," the tom meows. He stands slowly, padding over to her to give her a good sniff and a lick over the ears. Then,before saying anymore, he turns to the wall with the dozens of scratches in it, and places a single claw on it, drawing a thin line downward at an achingly slow pace.

"Yes, Diamen, it is good to see you as well." She waves her tail around, golden fur glowing. Then she turns to me, eyes tired but warm. "I held them up for you, Furze. The others won't find you here for awhile."

"Thanks,"I gasp. "But what was going on there, with them chasing me?"

Diamen and Valos exchange a quick glance. "That is a tale for another time," Diamen says, standing to stretch out. His maw parts into a wide yawn, showing his yellowed teeth.

I turn silently to look out the gap in the wall. Colors that I haven't seen for so long stain the sky with deep blues, purples, and pinks. The first stars, only pricks of light in the vast sea of clouds, begin to appear. Dot of lights, red and unearthly white, float quickly across the sky, whatever airborne creatures they belong to outside of anything I will ever know.

"Go to sleep, Furze," Valos says, nudging me with her nose like a mother would to a kit. "Each day holds only so much excitement. Rest now for tomorrow's adventure."

I close my eyes, trying to stay awake to listen to their voices, but the soft chatter of insects outside lulls me away into a blissful sleep. In my dreams, the sun floats across the sky, followed by the full moon, each side by side until the horizon.


	12. Voices in the Night

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 12: Voices of the Night

My paws absorb the cold that creeps into the air around us. Each step takes us farther downward, chilling my pelt. Moonflight chatters on behind me, such a distraction to my progress. Her voice drones out in my head, a constant buzz that disappears when I don;t feel like listening. The scent of the snake-creatures has been dropped in several places, and I need to stay on guard before it is too late.

Her mews blab on and on. SHe must have been so lonely on her own, without anyone to talk to. Even I, alone with my thoughts for so long, have not felt this vocally abandoned. She must have been sent down here to give her family a break at the very least.

"Where are we?" she asks, the question actually reaching me. "Can we eat something? I mean, I ate before we went to sleep, but I'm getting hungry. How far is it? Where are we going?"

Does she ever stop talking? A light growl rises from within, but I catch it before it escapes. "Moonflight, tell me,what prey do you smell?" I stop it my tracks, looking straight into her eyes. A flash of the serpent attack shows behind my eyes for a moment.

Her tail swishes over her back, whiskers twitching. "I don't know what I smell, something like a fish. Or maybe a snake! Yes, a snake!" She sits, looking at me like she is so proud of herself. As tough as she tries to be, Moonflight only looks like a young cat, not yet fully grown. One so oblivious like that much be happier than me.

"That scent," I say, soothing my voice over until it is deadly cold, "is no fish. Or a snake for that matter. What you smell with that little pink dot of a nose is a mutant creature, a slime-covered snake with long arms, wrapping around you until crunch, you are nothing but a snack to another piece of the circle of life goes on, and you mean nothing to it."

The smug look on her face evaporates as soon as the words float from my mouth. "I-I never thought about that. I mean, Hailstar didn't say anything to us other then the words of the riddle, and even that is encoded in whatever foolish mist covers my mind." Her ears flatten against her gray fur, paws fumbling.

"He was your leader, correct?" The name is vaguely familiar, like something lost and forgotten, and when you see it again, the memories about what makes it special are gone. The -star part of him name implies a strong, powerful figure, but sounds a little two sweet while Hail- makes him sound like a tyrant. Is he the reason we are here?

"Yes, he was our leader, Tigerpaw. But he was corrupted. We needed him for survival, but he gave us death in return. Someone getting something for him from down here will free us, or at least I think." He gray head tilts as she talks, giving off a faint glow from the scraps of moss that illuminate that path.

A grow rises in my throat. "Never,"I spit in her face, "call me that again." Shrinking further into the shadows I continue forward, leaving Moonflight petrified in her steps. A rush of warmth fills my body, laced with drops of smooth pride and trickery. My paws skim over the stone, hardly touching the ground. I am winning.

* * *

"How are you?"Valos asks, face only a tail-length from mine. Dusted silver rays of moonlight filter through the gaping hole above us. Diamen fell asleep what seemed like forever ago, and floating in and out of consciousness left a burn in my head. Finally I had decided to stay awake rather than fight into sleep. Valos decided to stay awake with me, but had been strange silent until now.

"I'm alright," I mew as quietly as I can. My heart gives a little flutter. Flakes of dust shine brightly in the columns of light. Valos stares up at them as well, white face glowing softly, like the moon.

"This must be hard for you," she says quietly, as not to break the pleasant song of the crickets outside. "This maze is so unforgiving, and I'm sure you have been through so much, even just since we have met. You know, I've never really had a chance to just sit down and talk with you. Be honest with me Furze, what is on your mind?"

Gulping, I try to explain. My first few words come out hoarse and chopped up, so I take a deep breath and start again. "I don't know, I'm keep thinking about Moon still, and everything Diamen said. Has he really been here since the maze was created?"

Her face lightens, if possible, even more. "Yes, he has been down here for StarClan knows how long. Diamen was like my father to me ever since I fell down with you and Moon?"

I shuffle, taken aback, but not wanting to show it on the inside. "No, I hardly knew her really. As you know, I lost my memory back in the beginning, and she tried to tell me my entire life story. But she was odd and clinging, so I ran off and came across you and those others."

She nods silently, licking a paw. "Sounds like she was a friend of yours to care that much, but the game changes everything for a cat. I myself came down here only a moon before I was suppose to become a warrior. My father, who was called Reedfrost by the Clan, always called me his little light. That's why he named me Light as a kit, to let everyone know. But now I feel at home in my body, as Valos, a warrior, not a subject or slave."

A tinge of regret sloshes in the near-empty pit of my stomach. It just seems so natural, and so inviting for me to tell Valos anything. "I still shouldn't have left her, now that I think about it."

"No," Valos interjects. "What you did was best. One must be strong to survive, and the weak will be the victims to the creatures that lurk here. That is why we are here, as Diamen told you. Strikestar, then later Hailstar, wanted to have an elite group of cats for their needs. That is the purpose for this maze, I believe. They want to send the best, whether physical or mentally, down here to fish out the best of the best. Only the bravest can run out of here alive."

I nod a little. The best of the best? It makes me wonder why I was sent down here in the first place. What could they have seen in me? "Then tell me," I ask. "Why aren't you searching for the way out? There must be a way, if they want the very best to make it out alive. Shouldn't Diamen know the way to escape from here?"

"Yes," she says, taking a deep breath. "I have tried to find the way out many times. Then I met the Cats of the Maze and learned of their ways. The group there works in a council system, with many layers of authority. Over there I earned my way to becoming a patrol leader for hunting, but they hardly trusted me with that. They were just looking for the skills that they would need for the entire group to survive. Many there are born into the maze, only learning the hate of the game."

I shake my head, trying to clear some of the odd thoughts forming in my head. How are kits born down here? How long has this been going on? "Valos, can you tell me something?"

"Yes," she meows, tired face resting on her paws, eyes blinking slowing with exhaustion. "Whatever you want."

"I was wondering, how come these cats don't just find a way out? How can they stay here long enough for a new generation to rise?"

Her lips pulling back into a large yawn, revealing dozens of sharp teeth. She pauses for a moment before answering me. "Furze, there is this thing called love. Though trails get in the way, there will only be a spark of love between the hearts of two beings. Even when hope is gone, they have each other. On this, those cats formed a group to all be one. They fell in love with the dank tunnels and other cats, some known since their Clan days. Never doubt that power, Furze. Even such a young heart can feel its grip."

I nod, resting my head in my paws. "Thanks," I whisper. "For everything."

"No problem, Furze," she replies, voice soft like the night air. "Good night."

My insides flood with a soft, warm feeling. "Good night Valos."

And then sooner than I would have ever imagined, my mind dives into the realm of imagination. A dream unfolds before my very eyes, welcoming me to sleep. Never before have I felt this new sensation, and I hold onto it. Forever I will stand. I am the spark, the pillar of hope. I will never fall. Even as the earth presses against my body, I will shine forth for the others to find `me. No one can take me down again.

**I haven't left a little note for awhile, and I wanted to say how happy I am! Thanks for every read, review, favorite, follow, or PM! It does mean a lot to me, and I love you guys. Please leave a review! This time, tell me who you think you would honestly be with, the Cats of the Maze, or alone? I want to here what you guys think so I can use it!**

**Side note, I AM doing NaNoWrMo, so unless I find a lot of ideas or free time,updates will slow in November.**

**Thorn, I love you girl! Hope to see you back on FanFiction soon for all those amazing stories!**


	13. Drops of Light

Maze of Darkness: Hear Me Now

Chapter 13: Drops of Light

Sunlight drops through the hole in soft, light rays. The warms is comforting on my fur, perfectly lulling me to sleep. I lift my head, opening my eyes sleepily. This seems unreal, how the brown soil flushes gold in the dawn. Through the gap in the roots, the sky turns a gentle pink, strung with shades of purple and orange. A cluster of leaves, red and yellow, drift down from above, from trees that cannot be seen, one landing on my nose.

Beside me, Valos stirs, her gold-tinged fur shining brilliantly against the light. Diamen is curled up still, face pressed into his thick fur, in a deep sleep. Silently I creep to the opening. Compared to the ground, the window of sunlight is nearly three tail-lengths up. Letting my claws out, I look for uneven pieces of rock and soil to pull myself up. The wall looks almost completely smooth, without an imperfection. Even if Diamen wanted to escape, I doubt her could have climbed up there enough to slip out. Even then, the hole could be smaller than anyone can tell from this distance.

Then I feel eyes watching me, someone else knowing of the idea of me escaping. Turning quickly,I see Valos, her golden eyes watching me in curious silence, every part of her frozen for a moment. Hurriedly she sits up and lays a few swipe of her tongue over the ruffled fur on her chest. "Good morning, Furze," she meows softly, as to not wake Diamen. "Want to come hunting with me? Diamen will be hungry when he wakes up, and no one can stand him very long like that."

I twitch my whiskers in amusement at the idea of such a wise cat could be grumpy over a little prey. "Sure, I'll come along."

Valos turns to lead the way, tail hanging low to the ground, fur dazzling in the sunlight. I scamper to her side, my fur gently brushing against her warm coat. I feel my face grow warm under the fur, but push all feelings aside. Right now, I just need to focus on finding prey. I let my senses go out, searching for the slightest sound of prey or sight of fur. The tunnel seems perfectly still, the morning rays not touching the shadows to wake them from the endless slumber that I trailed through for so long.

She jerks her head a little to the left, ears pricked up to their highest, eyes wide open. "I hear some prey," she whispers, voice nearly too quiet for me to hear. "A mouse it sounds like, this way." She turns down a thin branching tunnel, motioning with her tail for me to follow. The last few echos of light fade away as I follow, replaced by the faded radiance of the glowing mosses. My spirits drop as the drops of sunlight leave my fur, cold gripping me all over.

A thought takes over my mind as we stalk down the arched hallways. How could Valos hear that prey of hers? I surely could not pick up the faintest sounds, even with nothing else in the cavern. There must be something else about her I didn't know before, maybe even something that no one knows. Or maybe Diamen was right in saying how this maze was good for training with how it enhanced the abilities of those who after being in it and hadn't gone mad. Either way, it is amazing. I wish I could have something special like that.

Suddenly, she halts, and I stumble into her a little before sitting down. "What is it?" I ask, voice harshly more than a whisper.

"Shh," she hisses gently. "I know it, there is a mouse a few tail-lengths ahead. I am going to go and catch it, but I need you to wait here. If I don't get it, I will make sure to scare it this ready to grab it."

I nod, and watch carefully as she turns, mouth opening slightly, then closing again. Then more sure of herself, Valos dashes into the darkness, leaving me alone. By myself, claws seem to seep from the shadows, angry snarls blooming from the faint mosses. I take a small step backwards, paw landing in something that wasn't there before, a wet, slimy substance coating my foot. The walls begin to slowly grab hold on me, pulling me down as I try to escape.

Voices, small and clattering, scuttle up the walls, enveloping me in a bubble of terror. I feel my claws slide out,as I break into a run, hoping to find Valos. Then something snags under my paw, the sound subsiding. I look down, surprised to find a mouse under my claws. Those sounds, were they really just this small creature? What are the odds that I would have caught it anyway?

I decide to shrug it all off, and act as if it was planned. Soon enough, Valos comes back, two mice just like mine strung to her jaws on their delicate tails. Waving her tail for me to follow, I grab to limp piece of prey off the dusty ground and turn to keep moving. Slowly the drops of light come back, pulling my shivering heart back where it belongs. Glancing up ahead, the gentle incline reaches the den, orange light pooling over the smooth floor.

Inside, I pad close to Valos. Diamen is still asleep in his nest, shuffling more often than when I first woke up. His flanks climb up and drop down in ragged breaths, but I do not fear for the wise cat. Only age has caused him to become weaker, because in both his mind and mine, there must be the image of the perfect cat he once was, and the even better one that he could still be. Over his body, the mind behind my eyes projects a thin image. A young cat seems to lay in Diamen's place, flickering in and out of my vision, body clear of the scars that coat the old tom.

I let my gaze rest over the strange echo of Diamen, before turning my divided attention to Valos. She has laid the two pieces of fresh-kill to the side. A small trick of water laps over the side of a shallow pool near them, the clear stream unrealistic as it drizzles over the stone wall. I pad over, settling down near her. A sweet aroma fills my nose, clouding my mind a little. "What do we do now?" I ask her.

"Oh, whatever you feel like until he wakes up. Usually now I would be heading to he Cats of the Maze to get my daily patrols and go hunting, but I will not be going back there for some time now. Here, how about you drink some water, eat that mouse you caught, and just stay still for a little bit? I'm sure there is something on your mind."

"Yeah, I suppose." I stand, cautiously stalking towards the stream of water. I lean down and take a sip, the crisp flavor dancing across my maw. I take a few more gulps, and devour the mouse, Valos daydreaming off in her nest. I stand back for a moment, about to sit down for a nap, when Diamen's eyes flicker open.

"Furze," he says, voice deep and steady. "It is time you moved on."

"What?" I reply, surprised. My voice sounds weak, too quiet to hear for a moment, so I cough to make it look purposeful.

"I had a dream, it is hard to explain, but you must leave now. This journey of yours is difficult, yes. I assure you nothing is going to get easier. But you cannot stay here. "

Valos stands, padding gently over to me. "How is this, Diamen? I thought that those cats had stopped talking to you in your dreams."

"They had," he replies. "But they returned to give me a warning. They said it would be the last time I would here for them, for my time was drawing near."

"No, Diamen," she gasps. "You can't go! Who will be the Time Teller once you have gone?"

"No one will, Valos. They told me the time has come, for the one of a sunlight heart and one of light should go forth. This maze will tumble, crash down, and cave in. A new light will rise. Valos, I want you to go with Furze. Find the exit to this death trap."

"Wait," I interject. "Don't I get a say in this? You can't kick me out, I've only been here a day!"

"I'm afraid fate does not favor anyone, not even the weary or broken. I'm still here, aren't I? I have given so much time into the creation of a deadly creature. Now that creature has been freed, and there is nothing I can do. Furze, your journey will continue, and will be no easy feat. Please, take this as a gift from me, as you fight through and earn freedom."

Diamen steps back, revealing a small pebble under his paw, but in something so simple, there is something odd. Rather than the usual colors of gray and brown, this smooth object is orange, radiating light like the sun. It glows fainting from the inside, like the light was born from within, trying to escape. "This is the sun stone," he meows, sounding like he too is in awe of it. "Take it with you, to the land of flame. You can do it, can bring back the sun to the lost people, and show those above the truth."

"Thank you," I whisper, gingerly grabbing the stone in my jaws. I make care to hold it in my teeth, not swallowing it. The precious gift fills me with a feeling that has been missing for some time: joy.


End file.
